Dripless roller painter

ABSTRACT

A dripless roller paint applicator which is continuously fed by a container for the paint which is a component part of the paint applicator assembly so as to eliminate the necessity of frequent dipping of the roller into a separate pan. An arcuate portion of the paint container snugly fits about a portion of the periphery of the roller to evenly spread paint thereon which is fed from the container through a perforated tube which may be turned into and out of registry with holes in the container to control the feed and evenly distribute the paint onto the roller.

United States Patent Kaiser 1 Nov. 26, 1974 1 DRIPLESS ROLLER PAINTER [76] Inventor: Henry R. Kaiser, 248 Sleepy Hollow Pnmary 4 Charles Rd., Pittsburgh, Pa. 15216 22 Filed: Feb. 14, 1973 [57] ABSTRACT 21 A N 332,24 A dripless roller paint applicator which is continuously 1 pp 0 3 fed by a container for the paint which is a component part of the paint applicator assembly so as to eliminate U-S- [he ngcessity of frequent of the roller into a it. eparate pan An arcuate portion of the paint con- [58] Field of Search 401/15, 219, 208 mi snugly fit bout a portion of the'p'e'riphery of the roller to evenly spread paint thereon which is fed References Clted from the container through a perforated tube which UNITED STATES PATENTS may be turned into and out of registry with holes in 3,135,006 6/1964 Leland 401/219 the container to Comm] the feed and evenly distribute 3,356,442 12/1967 Leland 401/15 the Paint onto the roller- 3,622,246 11/1971 Grooms 401/219 I 3.6583132 4/1972 Lanvsse 401/219 1 Clam, 7 Drawmg Flgures 'PATENTE-L, asvzs I974 IIIIIIIIIII,

0 F I g. 5.

DRIPLESS ROLLER PAINTER This invention relates to a roller paint applicator and, more particularly, to a dripless roller painter'that is continuously fed while painting.

An outstanding disadvantage of commonly used roller paint applicators is that very frequently the roller must be dipped into a pan containing paint, which requires very frequent interruptions in the painting process, thereby considerably increasing the time necessary for painting walls, ceiling, etc.

Still another disadvantage of commonly used roller applicators is that dripping readily occurs when the roller applicator is removed from the pan containing the paint,also during the initial part of the painting process or when moving the pan from one position to another. 1

An object of the present invention is to overcome the abovenamed disadvantages by providing a novel roller paint applicator which is devoid of dripping and which continuously supplies paint during the painting process.

A more specific object of the present invention is to provide a novel and efficient roller painting assembly including a paint storage housing in contiguous relationship with the roller and including means for progressively and controllably feeding the roller while it is being rolled on ceilings, walls and other surfaces to be painted.

Other objects and advantages will become more apparent from a study of the following description taken with the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a top view of a roller painting assembly embodying the principles of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a front, elevational view thereof;

FIG. 3 is a side, elevational view thereof;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line IVIV of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VV of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged, transverse, cross-sectional view taken through perforated hollow tube 13 showing holes l4, 14 thereof out of registry with feed holes l5, l5, representing the off position of FIG. 3; and,

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 6 except showing holes 14, 14 in registry with holes 15, 15, representing the on position of FIG. 3.

Referring more particularly to FIGS. 1 to 4 inclusive, of the the drawing, numeral 1 generally denotes a roller paint applicator embodying the principles of the present invention, including a housing or container comprising body 2 and sides 3 attached thereto in a watertight manner, such as by interposing rubber gasket 3' and fastening sides 3 to body 2 by screws or other fastening means. Instead, the container maybe integrally formed of housing portion 2 and side portions 3.

A cylindrical roller 5 of felt, bristles or other paint pervious material commonly used is mounted at the ends thereof for rotational movement on trunnions 4, 4, forming a portion of the sides 3 as shown in FIG. 3.

Depending from the center of the bottom portion of the housing 2 there is an integral socket or gusset 6 which is internally screw threaded so that a handle 7 having a threaded rod end portion 8 may be screwed thereto, when desired. Of course, the handle could be integrally formed with the housing bottom if desired.

At the top of the paint housing, there is an integral collar portion 10 having screw threaded portion onto which cap 11, with corresponding threads, may be screwed. Preferably, an air bleeder 12 is provided having a hole for allowing trapped air to escape.

An important feature of the invention resides in the manner that the paint supply, which is stored in chamber 9, is fed onto roller 5 to provide uniform distribution of the paint, as well as an accurate control of the amount of paint fed onto the roller. As shown more clearly in FIG. 4, an integral portion of the housing 2 is arcuate or substantially seme-cylindrically shaped and snugly fits about the roller 5. Within this arcuate portion of the housing, there is formed a cylindrical hole in which is fitted a rotatable hollow cylinder 13 of member possibly of plastic, which is provided with a plurality of diametrically opposite holes 14, 14 along the length thereof, as showm more clearly-in FIGS. 5, 6 and 7.

As shown in FIG. 5 the arcuate portion of housing 2 is provided with a plurality of corresponding holes l5, 15 disposed immediately adjacent tube 13 and disposed diametrically opposite thereto. At one end of tube 13 there is rigidly attached a control knob 18, shown more clearly in FIGS. 5 and 6. Turning of the control knob will turn tube 13 from the off position illustrated in FIG. 6, to the on position illustrated in FIG. 7. Thus holes 14, 14 of tube 13 may be selectively placed out of registry with holes l5, 15 or in registry with such holes, respectively.

In operation, when the holes l4, l4 and l5, 15 are in registry, as shown in FIG. 7, paint in housing 2 is fed onto the surface of roller 5. If the full amount of paint is not desired, holes 14, 14 and l5, 15 can be arranged to be only partially in registry, depending upon the amount of turning movement of tube 13 as effected by control knob 18. In this manner, vernier adjustment of the rate of flow of paint onto the roller is provided.

By feeding the paint centrally of the arcuate portion of the housing, rotational movement of the roller 5, such as on ceilings and walls, will cause the paint to be spread evenly and uniformly about the roller before the paint exits from the end 16 or 17 of the roller, depending upon the direction of the rotation of the roller. This is a highly important feature and results in a dripless roller painter particularly when coupled with the control for the flow rate by selective turning of tube 13 by knob 18 between the on and off positions.

Thus it will be seen that I have provided a highly efficient and dripless roller painter assembly which is capable of being used for long periods of time without the necessity of continuously dipping the roller in a separate pan containing paint, but which, instead, has a built-in supply or reservoir of paint to enable painting of a very large surfacearea before the reservoir requires refilling; furthermore, I have provided a novel and efficient paint feeding and spreading structure to enable the feeding of controlled rates of flow of paint onto the roller and to enable effective uniform spreading of the paint onto the roller without dripping of the that this is by way of illustration only and that various changes and modifications may becontemplated in my invention and within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A vertically compact roller painting assembly comprising a housing for containing a supply of paint, said housing comprising a top wall portion having a filler cap, a front wall portion of concave, substantially semicylindrical shape throughout the entire width and through substantially the entire height of said front wall portion, and a bottom wall portion extending angularly upwardly from a position immediately below said front wall portion to a rear wall portion, a roller having a peripheral portion of pervious material for applying paint, said roller being rotatably mounted on the sides of said front wall portion so that said peripheral portion snugly fits in said concave front wall portion of the housing and well below said top wall portion, valve means located within said front wall portion immediately adjacent said roller peripheral portion, said valve means comprising a cylindrical opening, extending through the body of said front wall portion, centrally of said concave portion, having a plurality of longitudinally spaced, diametrically extending holes extending throughout the entire thickness of said front wall portion and a cylindrical tube snugly fitted in said cylindrical opening and having a plurality of correspondingly sized and spaced pairs of diametrically extending holes throughout the entire length thereof adapted to become into registry with said holes in said front wall portion in the open" position of said valve means and out of registry therewith in the closed position to close the flow of paint to said roller peripheral portion in reler. 

1. A vertically compact roller painting assembly comprising a housing for containing a supply of paint, said housing comprising a top wall portion having a filler cap, a front wall portion of concave, substantially semi-cylindrical shape throughout The entire width and through substantially the entire height of said front wall portion, and a bottom wall portion extending angularly upwardly from a position immediately below said front wall portion to a rear wall portion, a roller having a peripheral portion of pervious material for applying paint, said roller being rotatably mounted on the sides of said front wall portion so that said peripheral portion snugly fits in said concave front wall portion of the housing and well below said top wall portion, valve means located within said front wall portion immediately adjacent said roller peripheral portion, said valve means comprising a cylindrical opening, extending through the body of said front wall portion, centrally of said concave portion, having a plurality of longitudinally spaced, diametrically extending holes extending throughout the entire thickness of said front wall portion and a cylindrical tube snugly fitted in said cylindrical opening and having a plurality of correspondingly sized and spaced pairs of diametrically extending holes throughout the entire length thereof adapted to become into registry with said holes in said front wall portion in the ''''open'''' position of said valve means and out of registry therewith in the ''''closed'''' position to close the flow of paint to said roller peripheral portion in response to turning of said tube about its axis, said control means comprising a control knob extending from one end of said tube to effect said turning of said tube from the ''''on'''' to the ''''off'''' position and to intermediate open position to selectively control the rate of flow of paint, and a detachably mounted handle extending angularly downwardly and outwardly of said bottom wall portion of said roller in a direction away from said roller. 